In rain gutter installations, gutter drops or mouthpieces, as they are also called, are used to provide connections between the rain gutters and downspouts. Prior to this invention, the gutter drops have typically been installed by first cutting a downspout hole in the gutter's bottom wall with hand snips, by inserting the gutter drop into the downspout hole, and by securing the inserted gutter drop to the gutter by rivets or other suitable fasteners.
The foregoing method of installing gutter drops has several disadvantages. First, it requires several tools and parts, including a pair of hand snips, a drill, a rivet tool, and the rivets themselves. Second, it requires time-consuming, skilled workmanship to make a neat, satisfactory installation. Third, the downspout holes usually are rough and do not fit closely with the gutter drop when they are cut with hand snips, chisels, hacksaws or other similar tools. Fourth, workmen can easily cut their hands on the rough edges of the downspout hole.
One proposal for simplifying the connection of a downspout to a rain gutter is described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,967,452 which issued to J. E. Maloney, Jr. et al. on July 6, 1976. In this patented proposal, a combination punching and cutter tool is used to cut the downspout hole in such a way that part of the gutter's bottom wall forms downwardly turned tabs. The tabs are received in and fastened to the upper end of the downspout to secure the downspout to the gutter.
Although the proposal described in the Maloney patent has the advantage of eliminating the need for a separate gutter drop or mouthpiece, it nevertheless has a number of drawbacks. First, the construction of the patentees' combination punching and cutting tool is relatively complicated and includes an intricate arrangement of blades which are required for cutting the downspout attachment tabs out of the gutter. Second, it is cumbersome to use for cutting holes in rain gutters which are already hung in place on a building structure. Third, it cannot be used for installation having an existing downspout hole. Fourth, an inconvenient set screw manipulation is required where it is desired to change the orientation of the downspout hole. The orientation adjustment is needed for using the same tool to make cuts where the long dimension or axis of the hole lies either parallel to or transversely of the gutter.
The present invention has none of the foregoing drawbacks and offers additional advantages as will become apparent from the following summary and detailed description.